Software

Firefox OS has been on the horizon for a while now, and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona saw the first device partnerships announced for the fledgling mobile operating system. Though not showing any hardware in Barcelona, a press release was issued detailing Sony's plans to release a Firefox OS powered smartphone in 2014 in partnership with Telefonica.
What we have here isn't quite a Sony...

Samsung is hoping to further its position in the enterprise space by introducing Samsung KNOX, a full software solution for companies to implement with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programs. KNOX is aiming to be an end-to-end solution for securing corporate data on a personal device, keeping both sets of data and apps completely separate. The solution provides system-level encryption of the...

Frequent firmware leaker Samsung-Updates has just put up a preliminary leak of the Jelly Bean OTA for the Galaxy Victory 4G on Sprint. The device launched back in September of last year, disappointingly so when we saw just Ice Cream Sandwich on board. What we're looking at here though is software version L300VPALJ9, based on Android 4.1.1, which is a complete OTA package. We don't have a proper...

Motorola has just put up a new page that helps users easily find the software update status of any phone or tablet it sells. The new page is extremely user friendly, and walks users through finding their device and more information about it. You start with selecting your carrier, then a model and at that point you'll be presented with the update information and support links. Most recent devices...

Frequent firmware leaker SamMobile has just released what it believes is a build of the Android 4.2.1 update for the international (i9300) Samsung Galaxy SIII (S3). What we're looking at here is someone testing the new firmware -- Android 4.2.1 JOP40D -- that has chosen to give a system dump for others to try. It looks like many of the new features such as lockscreen widgets and Daydream are...

As with previous updates, you can now check out Google's own complete Jelly Bean changelog for the new features of Android 4.2, all on one page. We all know about the big additions of lockscreen widgets, redesigned clock and quick settings in the notification bar, but you may have forgotten about some of the more subtle changes. We're going to be honest there were even a few small things -- like...

The CyanogenMod team has just added HDR (High Dynamic Range) camera functionality for almost all devices running CM10.1 builds. The HDR mode has been enabled on most devices, and captures and processes images similarly to the way the Nexus 4 does with its stock software. The camera takes three images -- one under exposed, neutral exposed and over exposed -- and processes them together to make an...

The Jelly Bean update for the Sony Xperia T first started pushing out at the very beginning of February to unlocked devices. Since then, in the UK, O2 started pushing it out around a week later, and next up is the turn of fellow uk carrier Three. Announced this morning via their official Twitter account, Three has begun pushing out the Android 4.1.2 update to owners of the Xperia T on the...

This one perhaps has a slight taste of the better late than never, but the WiFi Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in Australia is now getting its Jelly Bean update. The Note 10.1 WiFi started receiving Android 4.1 in Europe -- Germany more specifically -- back in December, so eager Australian Note 10.1 owners have had a bit of a wait. However, the wait seems to be worth it, as the update now pushing out...

Skype is actively testing a new video messaging service with a "group of mobile and mac users" according to its official Twitter account today. The new feature, which doesn't require a new update to the mobile app, enables users to send video messages back and forth up to 3 minutes in length. If you've been selected to be part of this initial test, the option will be found under a contact's name...

The AT&T Galaxy Note 2 is receiving a small update today that has updated the baseband on the device and made what AT&T is calling a "chipset security enhancement". The update is small -- just about 8.5MB -- so as you'd expect we're sticking with Android 4.1.2 for the time being. The only front-facing change will be the software build number and basedband version. We're looking at a...

It looks like many users with the Samsung Galaxy SIII (S3) on Sprint are receiving a relatively large -- about 157MB -- OTA update on their devices. Grant, who sent us the above screenshot, notes that this is a Samsung software update and not a regular firmware update. Sprint's support pages indicate that the update to software version L710VPMA6 brings updates to the voicemail app, adds SMS...

Sprint Galaxy Note 2 owners should be looking for an update notification sometime soon, as the carrier has begun to push out a security fix update which bumps the device to version L900VPAMA7. While not particularly exciting, security fixes are important so you'll be wanting to grab it as soon as it becomes available.
The update is rolling out in stages OTA and Sprint says all users should...

HTC started pushing out the Android 4.1.1 update to eager owners of the unlocked, international One S back on Christmas Eve. Fast forward just over a month and Three UK has today announced that they have begun to push out the Jelly Bean update to their own, carrier branded HTC One S owners.
To snag the update for yourselves, head into Settings>About>Software Updates and start hammering on...

The Motorola Electrify M, which has only been available on U.S. Cellular since November, is getting its Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update starting today. The update should be similar to what we've seen come out on other recent Motorola devices, taking Jelly Bean and putting some very light, but useful, customizations on top of it. You'll be getting Google Now, Project Butter and expandable...

Stitcher Radio, one of the most popular news, radio and podcast apps on Android recently underwent a complete redesign. Lead Android developer at Stitcher, Tyler Pearson, was kind enough to take some time out of his day after the launch of the new app to talk to us. We had a chance to (virtually) sit down and talk to Tyler about their newly redesigned Android app, Google design guidelines and...

We heard just two days ago that Canadian models of the Galaxy Note 2 would be receiving their multi-window update today, and that seems to be going along as planned. Our own devices have started to pull down the update, all 230MB of it, to be installed and others are finding it arrive on their devices as well. This update will bring the much-anticipated multi-window feature, along with Chinese...

The RAZR i, Motorola's tweak of the RAZR M with an Intel chip inside, is receiving its Jelly Bean update in the U.K. starting today. Although its cousin the RAZR M started to receive its Jelly Bean update back in November, there are certainly some extra tweaks required to getting the update ready for devices with Intel processors still. The RAZR i Jelly Bean rollout started in France just a few...

Just one day after passing through certification at the PCTRB forum, the Jelly Bean update for the Xperia T has started pushing out to users. This is an unusually quick turnaround from certification to going live, usually taking a couple of weeks. It's all the more surprising considering Sony put out an alpha release of the software just a week ago. That being said, we're not going to complain...

The CyanogenMod team has just given Verizon and Sprint Galaxy Note 2 users something to be happy about -- official 10.1 nighly builds for download. Users of these devices have been patiently waiting as development went along on the latest CyanogenMod builds, and now they have their chance. Of course these nightly builds are far less stable than general releases and may have many bugs, but some...

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